One-on-one: MaRLo meets ShockOne

ShockOne: That’s where we definitely link up. Even though I write bassline-heavy music, I focus first and foremost of chords, melody and harmonic structure. That’s what I get off on musically. I don’t listen to a lot of trance, but I think our music shares that chord-led, epic feel.

Marlo: It’s all about contrast. It’s because there’s something melodic and pretty in there, the dirty bit sounds dirtier. If something’s aggressive from start to finish…well, it’s not aggressive.

ShockOne: That’s DJing as well: it’s all dynamics. A lot of the heavier dubstep and drum & bass guys play 110-percent the whole time, and your ears actually tire.

Marlo: You can’t jump up and down for two hours with your hands in the air. You’ve got to create moments.

ShockOne: This is what I was talking about with Above & Beyond. What I do is impact music; you have a drop, and then thirty seconds later, kids are like, “Hit me again!” 32 bars later, you’ll have a big breakdown. Above & Beyond’s intro went for five minutes: I could not do that. Kids would be, “Come on, man! I want to hear something gnarly!”

I miss that a bit – six years ago, drum & bass DJs would really roll it out. These rolling mixes that would get you the DJ and the crowd into a totally new state-of-mind. I really miss the parts of drum & bass where you get into this trance.

Marlo: There’s that word. You said it, not me. I think a rock concert or drum & bass can put you in a trance. At the same time, you have to standardise the word ‘trance’ so people know what you play.

ShockOne: Techno’s the same; it’s about repetition and getting people into a state of mind, which humans have being doing since the drum was invented. That’s what I love about our job – it’s continuing a lineage. People are always going to dance.